Tron: Ares

[sh9000]

NIN.

 

[Graham]

I'm only really a fan of the original 82 movie. I didn't really enjoy Legacy to be honest. 

So for Ares, I think I'll wait until it's on D+ before watching it.

[mikeszekely]

A friend of mine had never seen any of the Tron movies, so I had him come down to watch the first two.  Personally, while I can see how the original film would have been really impressive back in 1982, but the pacing of the actual story felt really off.  This isn't to say that Legacy's plot was any better, and it's a less creative film overall, but it moved at a better pace and the sights and sounds were greatly improved.

As far as Ares goes, I don't have a lot of hope for it.  The plot seems a little dumb, and I'm really not a fan of Jared Leto.  But I caught previews for it in 3D, and when the Recognizer is flying through the city it looked pretty awesome.  So I think I'm going to make same buddy go see it in 3D with me.

[M'Kyuun]

8 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

A friend of mine had never seen any of the Tron movies, so I had him come down to watch the first two.  Personally, while I can see how the original film would have been really impressive back in 1982, but the pacing of the actual story felt really off.  This isn't to say that Legacy's plot was any better, and it's a less creative film overall, but it moved at a better pace and the sights and sounds were greatly improved.

As far as Ares goes, I don't have a lot of hope for it.  The plot seems a little dumb, and I'm really not a fan of Jared Leto.  But I caught previews for it in 3D, and when the Recognizer is flying through the city it looked pretty awesome.  So I think I'm going to make same buddy go see it in 3D with me.

I'm old enough to have seen Tron in the theater, one of only a few films I saw in the theater growing up, and it was impressive. Visually and narratively, it was absolutely unique. All the smart-ass comments landed, the characters were likeable, especially Flynn, who, much like Han Solo, outshone the eponymous main hero of the story. Even the CG was extraordinary, as it imparted an uncannily realistic look to the scenes in which it featured, and with CG being a relatively new phenomenon in film, it stood out as something special. We take it for granted now, but back then my 11-year-old self was left wondering what did I just see? There was truly an otherworldly, magical quality to it that was fresh and unique and cool. It's a shame we haven't really felt that about movie effects since '93's Jurassic Park, which amazed me all over again with its incredibly realistic CG effects. So much of Tron has become iconic today, but one must remember that it was all one big experiment dreamed up by Steven Lisberger and it didn't really gain traction with fans until years after its initial release. But thank goodness it attained a cult following which kept it relevant, as it's one of those landmark films that pushed boundaries and laid the groundwork for further innovation in visual effects. Incidentally, the Tron producers were cheated out of an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects b/c the Academy felt that CG was cheating, despite all the intense work that went into creating those effects on rather primitive super computers. In my mind, they won it deservedly.

Next to the original Tron, IMHO, the animated Tron: Uprising is the second-best entry in the franchise, if only b/c it builds on what came before. It was an excellent show, well-written with well-fleshed out characters, a handful of good baddies (Lance Henriksen always delivers), and cranky old Tron himself, reprised by Bruce Boxleitner, added a bit of grit and a tinge of darkness to the character. Disney, in its infinite wisdom, cancelled it after only one season, of course. I would have loved to have seen at least one or two more- it exemplified what I want to see in a Tron show or movie. That said, I'm lukewarm for Tron: Ares. I'm not the biggest Jared Leto fan either, and I'm not sure how I feel about the digital world coming into the real, as I think there are far more interesting things that can be done visually and narratively in the digital, and that was sort of the point with the first two films. Nearly anything is possible in the digital realm, and I think that's a far more interesting world to explore than our own with its many limitations. I'll very likely go see it, but with tempered enthusiasm. If nothing else, judging by the trailers, it'll at least be pretty. And Gillian Andersen, speaking in her native British accent, is in it. To quote Frohike, "Scully's hot". 😛

[Big s]

14 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

A friend of mine had never seen any of the Tron movies, so I had him come down to watch the first two.  Personally, while I can see how the original film would have been really impressive back in 1982, but the pacing of the actual story felt really off.  This isn't to say that Legacy's plot was any better, and it's a less creative film overall, but it moved at a better pace and the sights and sounds were greatly improved.

 

Yeah, back when it came out video games graphically weren’t a whole lot better than pong. The other thing is the effects were simple, but done in a way to try and make them believable in a realm for a computer at the time without trying to look too realistic. Kinda like if you look at it, you immediately understand that they are not in a real world and that they are inside a program.
Things have come so far tech wise that the new one sorta looks like any other sci fi world. I think that’s why people were so impressed with the original at the time and kinda like warm to the new one. I like both, but it’s kinda like watching ghostbusters and then watching a decent ghostbusters sequel. Or the og Jaws and then any other shark based movie. The og still has that time and place excitement, while the sequel kinda has a been there done that a few times kinda feel.

[Dynaman]

I might be an outlier but I found the original Tron movie boring, stilted, and badly acted (or directed - I've certainly seen the two leads give far better performances  in other projects)..  The FX were interesting but the extras seemed to be wearing ill fitting sweat suits - and that really annoyed me for some reason.

[TangledThorns]

The odd thing thing about TRON: Legacy was the Jeff Bridges de-aging. It looked terrible in the first scene in the real world for Flynn but looked fine in the digital world for CLU. Anybody feel the same way? I guess its because CLU was supposed to be a separate character from Flynn, or at least in my mind it was.

[M'Kyuun]

18 hours ago, TangledThorns said:

The odd thing thing about TRON: Legacy was the Jeff Bridges de-aging. It looked terrible in the first scene in the real world for Flynn but looked fine in the digital world for CLU. Anybody feel the same way? I guess its because CLU was supposed to be a separate character from Flynn, or at least in my mind it was.

Agree. As good as CG has become, there's still an uncanniness when they render real people's faces as digital constructs. It's a tough hurdle to clear for CG artists, as we're innately attuned to faces and tend to notice when even the slightest thing is off.

[wwwmwww]

Anyone here remember the Arcade Aid Flynn Lives ARG that was used to promote Tron: Legacy?  They gave away some very nice pins, badges, token, posters, postcards, etc. and it was a lot of fun that I felt helped to build excitement for the film.  Is there anything similar ongoing for the Tron: Ares film?  I'm guessing no or I think I would have seen something about it by now but maybe I've missed it as I'm not on-line near as much as I was 15 years ago. 

Edited September 20 by wwwmwww
Correcting typo...

[electric indigo]

There's a surprise guest at the end of the clip.

 

[Thom]

On 9/19/2025 at 6:24 PM, TangledThorns said:

The odd thing thing about TRON: Legacy was the Jeff Bridges de-aging. It looked terrible in the first scene in the real world for Flynn but looked fine in the digital world for CLU. Anybody feel the same way? I guess its because CLU was supposed to be a separate character from Flynn, or at least in my mind it was.

Agreed. It really stands out in the real world sequences. They needed a lot less face-on with Flynn and more old school deflected shots and just plain not showing his face at all. Do voice-overs while showing him from behind or something. The money saved there could have been used to better render Clu for his major scenes.

 

 

Edited September 21 by Thom

[Swann]

Trent Reznor is no Rozz Williams 

[Swann]

I hope McDonald's will do promotion for Tron

[Big s]

10 hours ago, Swann said:

Trent Reznor is no Rozz Williams 

That’s definitely a tough comparison there. One was more Deathrock/ Punk goth and the other was more heavy Industrial pop

[sh9000]

If the movie turns out bad I'll just rewatch Tron, Tron:  Legacy, and Tron:  Uprising.

[Swann]

On 9/21/2025 at 4:05 PM, Big s said:

That’s definitely a tough comparison there. One was more Deathrock/ Punk goth and the other was more heavy Industrial pop

Trent and Manson stole from him.

[Big s]

14 hours ago, Swann said:

Trent and Manson stole from him.

I can’t really say that Trent stole from him, his music was more influenced by industrial alternative music and his look may have all been something closer to Skinny Puppy or something, but not so much Rozz. But Manson might be closer there. Definitely different musically, but the looks and facial expressions might have more of a heavier influence, especially in Manson’s early days, sorta like Al from Minstry kinda having his look taken from Rob Zombie 

[Magnus]

If the rumors i've heard about what happens with Sam Flynn are true i'll likely skip seeing this in theatres. 

[Swann]

21 hours ago, Magnus said:

If the rumors i've heard about what happens with Sam Flynn are true i'll likely skip seeing this in theatres. 

What rumor? I want to see Tron.

[Swann]

I hope the original real Tron is in it. That would be a great and big surprise.

[TangledThorns]

Reviews are coming in. I'll still go see it but my expectations are lowered now. 

https://www.ign.com/articles/tron-ares-review

[mikeszekely]

43 minutes ago, TangledThorns said:

Reviews are coming in. I'll still go see it but my expectations are lowered now. 

https://www.ign.com/articles/tron-ares-review

I've been saying that my expectations for the film have been in the basement since they announced Jared Leto's casting.  I still want to see it in 3D because I happened to catch a preview in 3D, and the Recognizer flying over the city looked amazing in 3D.

[TangledThorns]

9 minutes ago, mikeszekely said:

I've been saying that my expectations for the film have been in the basement since they announced Jared Leto's casting.  I still want to see it in 3D because I happened to catch a preview in 3D, and the Recognizer flying over the city looked amazing in 3D.

 

Jared Leto is a very good actor but he seems cursed in the sci-fi and action films and should just go back to dramatic roles.  

[Big s]

Been hearing that the looks and sounds are great, but the acting and script are terrible. Basically a pretty waste of money and should just wait for D+ or just skip it altogether 

[Hikuro]

Pretty much the moment Leto was announced I knew this was gonna go downhill. I’ve never liked him, I think he ruins a lot of films and no idea why he was even chosen in the first place for this kind of project with his track record. 

[Big s]

3 hours ago, Hikuro said:

Pretty much the moment Leto was announced I knew this was gonna go downhill. I’ve never liked him, I think he ruins a lot of films and no idea why he was even chosen in the first place for this kind of project with his track record. 

From what I’ve been hearing, he’s not even the worst part of the problem here. Just bad acting all around and a bad script  giving a lot of goofy dialogue and terrible story.

[renegadeleader1]

My opinion...

 

The trailers looked like crap.

Nine Inch Nails sucks.

Jared Leto is an a-hole.

Plot sounded dumb to begin with.

Not even worth streaming when it drops for free on Tubi.

[jenius]

NIN rules...

I thought the special effects looked good enough to stream for free. I've only watched the first sequel once, feel like this will be the same.

[Big s]

1 hour ago, renegadeleader1 said:

My opinion...

 

The trailers looked like crap.

Nine Inch Nails sucks.

Jared Leto is an a-hole.

Plot sounded dumb to begin with.

Not even worth streaming when it drops for free on Tubi.

Pretty much, but there are some NIN songs that I like. I do think they’re overrated though, but Trent Reznor is usually pretty good at setting up a soundtrack and some soundtracks that he’s been in charge of were far better than the movies themselves. I guess in that regard I think Trent’s skill with soundtracking is underrated 

[TangledThorns]

Speaking of Nine Inch Nails I bought tickets to see them perform live during their Peel it Back tour this Winter. Always wanted to see a live NIN performance since the 1990s so glad its my first before they or I get too old for it, lol.